Network management as a service (MaaS) using reverse session-origination (RSO) tunnel

ABSTRACT

A Management-as-a-Service (MaaS) agent running on a client network creates a reverse session-origination (RSO) tunnel between the client network and a MaaS server. The MaaS agent collects client statistics at and regarding the client network and transmits the client statistics to the MaaS server. The MaaS server analyzes the client data and sends alerts or other messages to a user, who may be outside the client network, in the event certain conditions are met.

This application is a continuation-in-part (CIP) of copending patentapplication Ser. No. 14/971,872 filed 2015-Dec.-16. This applicationclaims priority based on provisional application 62/240,075 filed2015-Oct.-12.

BACKGROUND

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) typically have on-premisescomputer networks connected to the Internet via a firewall. For securitypurposes, the firewall restricts communications between the on-premisesnetwork and the Internet at large. The firewall can then make itdifficult for legitimate users to access the on-premises networkremotely. Accordingly, some on-premises networks are set up to allowremote access using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) that provide asecure channel through the firewall between the remote user and theon-premises network. Functionally, the remote device becomes part of theon-premises network.

However, it can be costly and cumbersome to set up a computer systemnetwork for VPN access. VPNs can be problematic; for example, there canbe address conflicts, especially in cases in which a user connects tomore than one VPN at a time. Such address conflicts can prevent a userfrom contacting all devices on conflicting networks. As a result, manySMBs eschew VPNs, thus narrowing their capacity for remote managementand opportunities for increased productivity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a digital environment allowing remoteaccess to a client network using a reverse session-origination (RSO)tunnel.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a nested packet of the digitalenvironment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a Management-As-A-Service (MaaS) serverand a client network connected by the RSO tunnel of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the digital environment of FIG. 1 andshowing additional details.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a process for setting up an RSO tunnel such asthe RSO tunnel of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a process for handling a user request usingthe RSO tunnel of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a process in which a user submits a query tothe MaaS server of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a process by which the MaaS server of FIG. 3provides alerts and other messages to a remote user.

FIG. 9 is a process by which the MaaS server of FIG. 3 providesrecommendations using data collected from plural client networks.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Herein, a Management-As-A-Service (MaaS) server communicates with aclient network through its firewall using a reverse session-origination(RSO) tunnel. A remote user can access and manage the client network viathe MaaS server. In addition, a MaaS agent residing on the clientnetwork can create the RSO tunnel, as well as collect and forward to theMaaS, metrics data regarding the client network, e.g., its virtualmachines (VMs). The MaaS server stores the collected client-side data ina database, which can be queried by a user. In addition, an analysisengine on the MaaS server can analyze the stored client-side data andprovide alerts and recommendations to a user. Depending on the scenario,the recommendations may be based on data from a single client networkthat the user is authorized to access, or may be based at least in parton data from plural client networks, including at least one that theuser is not authorized to access.

Herein, a “tunnel” is a network channel in which packets of a “payloadprotocol” are encapsulated as payloads in packets of a “deliveryprotocol” in a manner not called for by an applicable Internet ProtocolSuite. For example, while the Internet Protocol Suite would call forencapsulating a packet of an application layer protocol (e.g., theHyperText Transfer Protocol, abbreviated “HTTP”), as a payload in atransport layer protocol (e.g., Transmission Control Protocol or TCP),it would not call for encapsulating a TCP packet in an HTTP packet. Someembodiments herein employ tunnels in which TCP packets are encapsulatedin HTTPS packets, where HTTPS (“HTTP Secure”) is a secure variant ofHTTP employing a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol or a TransportLayer Security (TLS) protocol. As is conventional, “SSL” is used hereinto refer to both SSL and TLS protocols.

Although they provide for bi-directional communication between a clientand a server, HTTP and HTTPS are examples of unidirectionalsession-origination protocols. Request-response sessions, i.e.,sequences of requests and responses, are at least predominantlyoriginated by client requests to a server. Thus, the forward directionfor session origination is from client to server. The payloads, e.g.,user requests and responses, may also have an associated direction oforigination, which may be the same or opposite the direction oforigination associated with the delivery protocol. If they are the same,the tunnel is a “forward session-origination (FSO) tunnel”; if they areopposite, the tunnel is a “reverse session-origination (RSO) tunnel”. Asthe terms are used herein, bi-directional session-origination tunnelsare neither FSO nor RSO.

Herein, a remote user initiates communication sessions by issuingrequests, some of which may actually be commands. The client networkresponds to each request, e.g., by providing requested information orindicating that a user command has been implemented. So, remote usersessions originate server-side, i.e., outside the client network, andare directed to the client network. In other words, the direction ofsession origination for the delivery protocol is the reverse of thedirection of origination of the user sessions. In this sense, thetunnels herein are reverse session-origination (RSO) tunnels.

RSO tunnels face a challenge as the user is not on-premises with theclient that originates the session-originating delivery protocolrequests. Accordingly, a MaaS agent can be installed on the clientnetwork to provide for user-less generation of delivery-protocolrequests. The MaaS agent can also unwrap user requests from deliveryprotocol responses and forward the unwrapped user requests to theirintended on-premises destination. The MaaS agent can also wrap responsesto user requests in delivery-protocol requests. While the MaaS agentrequires installation, the effort involved is comparable to installingan application, and is much less burdensome than setting up a clientnetwork for VPNs.

A surprising additional benefit of the client-side MaaS agent is that itcan be used to form the tunnel itself by forwarding an on-premises portto a port on the MaaS server. The agent can be triggered to establish aconnection between itself and an agent connection endpoint (ACE) on theMaaS server. The ACE, which would typically be co-developed with theMaaS agent, wraps user requests in delivery-protocol responses andunwraps user responses (to user requests) from delivery-protocolrequests.

Another challenge for an RSO tunnel is that the MaaS server may have towait until there is a pending delivery-protocol request before the MaaSserver can forward a user request to the on-premises client network.This wait is in addition to any increased latency due to access beingremote instead of local (i.e., from an on-premises user). So that theremote-user experience is not unduly degraded, the MaaS agent can act tominimize the duration of intervals during which no delivery-protocolrequest is pending. This can involve generating and transmitting dummyrequests (e.g., bearing no information to be forwarded to the user);user requests can then be wrapped into responses to the dummy requests.

In some embodiments, the MaaS server simply wraps a user request into adelivery-protocol response. In other embodiments, some translation ofthe user request as received is involved. In further embodiments, theMaaS server performs more complex translations. For example, a user mayrequest hourly processor utilization reports, in which case, the MaaSserver may schedule user requests to be sent hourly. In still otherembodiments, the MaaS server may generate its own “user requests” thatare not in response to specific requests from a remote user. Forexample, a MaaS server may request that the MaaS agent monitor theclient network and, to that end, generate probes for specific systemhealth information regarding the on-premises client network. In summary,the services provided by a MaaS server can range from simple forwardingto complex artificial intelligence systems for monitoring andmaintaining one or more on-premises client networks.

Remote (that is, off-premises and outside firewall 104) users canconnect to a MaaS server using an app or a web browser. The MaaS sitecan take care of authentication and authorization, prioritizingrequests, and so on. The MaaS server can store network data collected bythe MaaS agent. Herein, “network data” encompasses data collected from anetwork. Examples include total and per-VM hardware-resource utilizationdata and performance data. In addition, network data encompassesconfiguration data and configuration change data. The MaaS server canuse artificial intelligence and other functionality to provide forautomatic proactive management of the on-premises network.

For example, a digital environment 100 can include an SMB-ownedon-premises client network 102, as shown in FIG. 1. Client network 102includes a firewall 104 that allows Internet access, while protectingclient network 102 from unauthorized access. A user 106, e.g., an owneror employee of the SMB, may obtain remote access using an app or webbrowser executing on a remote device 108, such as a smartphone 110, atablet 112, or a laptop computer 114. Remote access to client network102 is provided via an Internet-based MaaS server 116 located on theInternet/cloud 118 and outside firewall 104. The remote device 108 canaccess MaaS server 116 using an HTTPS protocol, a cellular protocol, oranother protocol.

In various embodiments, an on-premises client network includes one ormore computers. One or more of the computers may serve as a physicalhost for virtual machines, which may, in turn, run applications or otherprograms. To this end, a hypervisor or other virtual machine monitor mayexecute on the host hardware. In an embodiment, MaaS server 116 may hostMaaS software for managing virtual machines executing in client network102. Herein, the hosts, hypervisors, and virtual machines are allconsidered part of the client network.

MaaS server 116 accesses client network 102 via an RSO tunnel 120. Usersessions may be originated by the user at a user device 108. In thatcase, the MaaS server 116 may forward the user requests (modified orunmodified) to the client network 102 via RSO tunnel 120. Alternatively,MaaS server 116 may generate its own remote user requests destined forclient network 102.

User requests can be packetized and the user-request packets can be sentover RSO tunnel 120 to client network 102. The user requests can beconveyed according to a protocol understood by the intended destinationwithin client network 102. In the illustrated embodiment, the userprotocol is the TCP/IP transport layer TCP protocol. The payloads of theuser request packets may be encapsulated as payloads ofdelivery-protocol packets. The delivery protocol can be, for example,HTTPS. As shown in FIG. 1, a user request (TCP) packet 130 can beencapsulated as a payload 132 of a delivery-protocol packet 134 thatalso includes a delivery-protocol header 136 (to specify, for example,an origin, a destination and a session identifier). Upon receipt atclient network 102, the user-request payload 130 is extracted, a TCPheader is added, and the resulting TCP packet is transmitted to itsdestination within client network 102.

Similarly, a user response, generated by client network 102 in responseto a user request, can be packetized into user-response packets destinedfor MaaS server 116 and/or user 106. Each user-response payload 140 canbe wrapped as a payload 142 in a delivery-protocol request packet 144.In addition to the payload, the delivery-protocol request packet caninclude a header 146, for example, specifying an origin, a destination,and a session identifier. The delivery protocol request payload 144 isthen transmitted to MaaS server 116 via RSO tunnel 120. However, topreserve tunnel bandwidth for incoming data, some outgoing data can besent through a path that bypasses the RSO tunnel.

Upon receipt at server 116, the user-response payload 140 is thenextracted from the delivery-protocol request packet 144, a header isadded, and the resulting user-response packet is consumed at MaaS server116 and/or forwarded to and consumed by user 106.

In the illustrated embodiment, the delivery-protocol packet 134includes, as its payload, only the payload of a payload-protocol packet130. The payload-protocol header is not included as part of thedelivery-protocol payload. The source and destination are determined bythe tunnel itself, so the payload-protocol header is not needed tospecify them. Omitting the payload protocol header in thedelivery-protocol payload avoids certain potential address conflicts.

In summary, payload-protocol user requests are wrapped indelivery-protocol responses, and payload-protocol user responses arewrapped in delivery protocol requests. The user sessions originate astransmissions toward client network 102, while the delivery protocolsessions originate as transmissions from client network 102. Hence, thecharacterization of tunnel 120 as reverse session origination.

Note that the terms “delivery protocol” and “payload protocol” aredefined relative to each other. For example, the HTTPS delivery protocolof FIG. 1 resides at the application layer of the Internet ProtocolSuite, otherwise known as “TCP/IP”. The Internet Protocol Suite definesa four-layer stack including: a link layer, an Internet layer, atransport layer, and an application layer. Tunneling contributes anadditional layer, resulting in the 5-layer stack of FIG. 2.

Thus, a tunnel stack 200 can have a link-layer packet 202 encapsulatingan Internet-layer (e.g., Internet Protocol Layer version 6 or IPv6)packet 204. The Internet layer packet 204 can encapsulate a transportlayer 206, e.g., TCP, packet 134. The transport layer packet 206 canencapsulate an application layer, e.g., HTTPS, packet 134. Theapplication layer HTTPS packet 134 can include as its payload thepayload of a TCP packet 130. To avoid confusion, it can be helpful tokeep in mind that the tunnel TCP payload 130 is distinct from thetransport-layer packet 206, despite the fact that they both may conformto the TCP protocol.

As explained above, a user request packet is encapsulated in adelivery-protocol response packet. However, the delivery-protocolresponse must refer to a previously generated delivery protocol requestor to a session originated by a previously generated delivery-protocolrequest. In other words, a user request cannot be sent to the networkclient 102 (FIG. 1) until MaaS server 116 has received a correspondingdelivery-protocol request. As a result, transmission of a user requestcan be delayed by the time spent waiting for a delivery-protocol requestto be received from client network 102. By ensuring a practicallycontinuous presence of a delivery-protocol request packet, RSO tunnel120 minimizes this delay to near zero.

To provide the prerequisite requests, a MaaS agent 302, shown in FIG. 3,is installed on client network 102. As shown in FIG. 3, client network102 includes host hardware 304, a hypervisor 306 running on hardware304, and virtual machines 308 running on hypervisor 306. Hypervisor 306can be, for example, ESX, available from VMware, Inc. MaaS agent 302runs on hypervisor 306. In other embodiments, the MaaS agent can run ona host operating system that is separate from the hypervisor or on ahypervisor that is separate from a host OS, or elsewhere3. Depending onthe embodiment, a MaaS agent and the virtual machines it helps inmanaging may run on the same on-premises physical host and/or ondifferent on-premises physical hosts.

MaaS server 116 includes server hardware 310 and server software 312.Software 312 is software encoded in media included in server hardware310. In the illustrated embodiment, server software 312 includes amanagement application 314 to provide management as a service (MaaS),and an agent connection point (ACE) 316. Management application 314 isused to manage virtual machines 308 via hypervisor 306. Hypervisor 306can acknowledge that management commands have been implemented and canprovide status information regarding virtual machines 308 in response touser requests therefor.

MaaS agent 302 can create RSO tunnel 120 by forwarding a client-sideport 320 of client network 102 to a server-side port 322 of server 116.MaaS agent 302 can packetize, encrypt, wrap, and transmit user-responsepackets from hypervisor 306; this is one way to generate the requestpackets needed to transport user requests to client network 102. MaaSagent 302 can also unwrap, decrypt, and forward to hypervisor 306, userrequests. MaaS agent 302 can also generate dummy packets to minimize theamount of time in which no delivery-protocol request is pending and tominimize the time a user request must wait before being wrapped andtransmitted to client network 102. To preserve bandwidth for incomingcommunications, some data, e.g., metrics data, can be sent from clientnetwork 102 to MaaS server 116 via a path 324 that bypasses tunnel 120,as firewall 120 is more permissive with outgoing communications than itis with incoming communications.

As shown in FIG. 4, MaaS agent 302 includes an RSO tunnel creator 402,an RSO tunnel operator 404, and a client-side network monitor 406. OnceMaaS agent 302 is installed, tunnel 120 can be created, either uponlaunch, or in response to a command from an on-premises user. Morespecifically, MaaS agent 302 can forward port 320 to ACE 316 to formtunnel 120.

Tunnel operator 404 can calibrate and operate RSO tunnel 120. Operator404 can calibrate tunnel 120 by sending a calibration request, waitingfor it to time out, and measuring the time it took for the request totime out. A threshold can be set as a percentage, e.g., of the time-outduration. The time-out duration can be specified by dummy requests. Ifno user request is pending during the time-out duration, ACE 316 cansend a dummy response to prevent a time-out. If a user request ispending, ACE 316 responds with the user request. If a user request ispending during a calibration request, ACE 316 responds with a userresponse; tunnel operator 404 can then send a new calibration request.Tunnel operator 404 can also send monitor and other client-side data tomanagement server 116 either through tunnel 120 or alternatecommunications paths 324.

Network monitor 406 monitors on-premises client network 102, e.g.,collects performance and utilization data from client network 102 andits components, e.g., virtual machines and their hosts. Utilization datacan include percentage of available processor cycles being used,percentage of available bandwidth being used, and percent of storagedevice being used. Performance data can include the times required toperform certain tasks or the latencies involved in performing certaintasks. In addition, network monitor can obtain network data fromconfiguration change logs and from error logs. A user can specify thedata to be collected and the schedule according to which data iscollected. In the illustrated embodiment, the hypervisor collects andtime-stamps the data such that utilization and performance can bespecified on a per-VM basis. Management agent 302 adds a clientidentifier to the collected client-side data so that it can bedistinguished from client-side data collected from other clientnetworks.

The collected data can be forwarded via tunnel 120 to managementapplication 314. Upon receipt by ACE 316, the collected data is storedin a multi-tenant database 408 of management application 314 via adatabase engine 410, shown in in FIG. 4.

The customers/subscribers to the management services provided by MaaSserver 116 are referred to herein as “tenants”. As indicated by FIG. 4,MaaS server 116 can serve multiple tenants 411, 412, and 413. A tenantmay be a business, a business division, or another entity. Each tenantcan have one or more on-premises client networks 102, 414, and 415.Typically, each client network belongs to a respective tenant. Hence,the client identifier added by a management agent can be considered atenant identifier (TID). If two client networks share the same tenant,the same TID can be used as the client identifier for both clientnetworks. Alternatively, separate TIDs can be used for the clientnetworks. In that case, the two TIDs are both assigned to the sametenant.

“Multi-tenancy” is an architecture in which a single instance of asoftware application, in this case, management application 314, servesmultiple customers. Each customer is called a tenant. Tenants may begiven the ability to customize some parts of the application, such ascolor of the user interface (UI) or business rules, but, typically, theycannot customize the application's code. Multi-tenancy can be economicalbecause software development and maintenance costs are shared.

Each tenant can have one or more users 106, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425,426, and 427 that can access MaaS server 116 using a respective userdevice 108. MaaS server 116 can communicate with respective clientnetworks 102, 414, and 415, via respective sets of tunnels 120, 431, and432. For example, a tenant may be an SMB and the users can be itsemployees.

Multi-tenant MaaS server 116 includes an access control 440 forauthenticating users. The authentication process determines the tenant(e.g., SMB or department) to which a user belongs. Access control 440modifies queries and commands by inserting a tenant identifier (TID)unique to the tenant to which the user belongs. Database engine 410 usesthe TID to prevent a user from accessing data (in multi-tenant database408) belonging to tenants other than the user's own tenant. In otherwords, the TIDs for the respective tenants are used for data isolation.

Management application 314 includes an analysis engine 442 that cananalyze data in database 408 on an ongoing basis. In other words,analysis engine 442 can monitor database 408 for indications ofconditions requiring intervention and can notify a user of the same. Forexample, a tenant can specify that an email or a Short Message Service(SMS) notification should be sent to a specified user whenever a virtualmachine uses 90% or more of its available processor capacity. The usercan then assign or purchase additional capacity, reduce the workload,etc.

In addition, analysis engine 442 can be used to detect data trends,e.g., for capacity planning purposes. Analysis engine 442 can also serveas an expert system making recommendations, e.g., anticipating failuresand making recommendations to help prevent them. For example, higher(correctable) error rates may be used to anticipate a component failure.Analysis engine 442 is configurable on a per-tenant basis. Each tenantcan specify thresholds to be detected and alerts to be sent.

Analysis engine 442 has access to data from all tenants. In principle,analysis engine 442 can provide recommendations based in part on dataother than the data for the tenant benefitting from the data. Forexample, problems reported in response to an operating-system upgradefor tenant 411 can be the basis of a warning to tenant 412 to delay theupgrade, e.g., until the problems have been resolved. To ensure privacy,the warning would not specify the source for the warning. For furtherassurances, tenants would be required to provide permission to use theirdata to enhance the general knowledgebase. Incentives include areciprocal benefit of the community knowledgebase. Also, a tenant thatdid not share data might be allowed to pay a higher fee to obtain thebenefits of the community knowledgebase. A request handler 444 managessessions with users in that it matches responses from client network 102to their corresponding requests.

A process 500, flow-charted in FIG. 5, provides for setting up an RSOtunnel so that a protected client network can receive user requests overthe Internet. At 501, a MaaS agent is installed on the client network,and an agent connection endpoint (ACE) can be configured on a MaaSserver. The server can be Internet-based, e.g., outside a firewall forthe client network. The configuration of the ACE may occur before,after, or concurrently with installation of the MaaS agent at 501.

At 502, the MaaS agent forwards a port to the server to establish atunnel. This allows the Internet-based MaaS server to connect to aspecific service on the private client network. The forwarded port canbe web-services (HTTP) port 80; this port can be forwarded to a port ofthe server associated with the ACE. The host for the forwarded port canthen act as an HTTP server, while the ACE can function as its client.Thus, for the resulting tunnel, sessions originate at the client networkclient and are directed from the client network to the server.

The RSO tunnel has an associated payload protocol, in this case TCP, andan associated TCP/IP application-layer delivery-protocol, in this caseHTTPS. In other embodiments, other payload protocols and otherapplication-layer delivery protocols are used. In some embodiments, thepayload protocol and the delivery protocol are the same; for example,they can both be HTTP or HTTPS.

At 503, the MaaS agent transmits a calibration request to the ACE. Thecalibration request can be a dummy request. At 504, a determination ismade whether a user request is pending (at the ACE) before thecalibration request times out. If a user request is pending, eitherbecause it was received before the calibration request is received, orbecause it is received as or after the calibration request is receivedbut before time out, then, at 505, the ACE returns a calibrationresponse with the user request as payload to the MaaS agent. At thispoint, process 500 returns to action 503, with the MaaS agenttransmitting a new calibration request.

If instead, at 504, the calibration request times out, the ACE willnotify the MaaS agent of the timeout. At 506, the MaaS agent measuresthe “time-out period”, i.e., the time between calibration-requesttransmission and detection of the time-out. A request-response sessioncan be terminated by a time-out, e.g., imposed by an Internet ServiceProvider (ISP), a firewall (if any), or an HTTP proxy (if any). If asession is terminated, it can be re-established using a handshakeprocess that consumes plenty of processor cycles, and requires multiplepacket round-trips. As a result, bandwidth consumption and latencyincrease. The MaaS agent has no reliable means of knowing the time-outperiod a priori, so the time-out period is determined empirically.

At 507, the MaaS agent sets a “holding time” for the ACE to hold a dummyrequest before responding to it. The goal is to ensure practicallycontinuous pendency of dummy requests while minimizing the amount oftunnel bandwidth consumed by the dummy requests and the responsesthereto. Longer holding times mean fewer dummy requests per unit time,but risk interruptions due to time outs. Shorter holding times reducethe risk of time outs, but increase tunnel traffic. In the illustratedembodiment, the response-time limit can be set as a percentage (e.g.,90%) of the time-out period. In the illustrated embodiment, holdingtimes are usually between 10 seconds and 10 minutes.

At 508, the MaaS agent sends a dummy request, specifying the holdingtime, to the ACE. At 509, the ACE holds onto the dummy request until: 1)there is a user request pending, 2) the holding time expires, or 3)there is a time out. If there is a user request pending, the ACE returnsa dummy response with the user request as its payload at action 510. Ifthe user request is pending when the ACE receives the dummy request, theresponse is as immediate as possible. If the user request is receivedduring the holding time, the dummy response is sent as soon as possibleafter receipt of the user request. If the holding time expires withoutreceipt of a user response, at 511, the ACE returns a blank (no userrequest in the payload) response to the MaaS agent. Whether or not thedummy response includes a user request, process 500 returns to action508 immediately to minimize the time a subsequent user request must waitbefore being forwarded to the client network.

If, at 509, the dummy request times out before a user request isreceived and before the holding time expires, the session may bere-established at 512. Once the session is re-established, the MaaSagent can adjust, at 507, the holding time downward to reduce thelikelihood of interruption due to time outs.

Process 500 is designed to optimize the user experience by minimizingany delay associated with remote (vs. local) access via a tunnel of aclient network. The handling of a session initiated by a remote user isrepresented in FIG. 6 as process 600.

At 601, a user request is generated (asynchronously and independently ofdelivery-protocol request generation). For example, a user can interactwith an app or web browser on a user device to generate a request andtransmit it to the MaaS server. The server may forward the user requests“as is” or modify them before sending them on. “Modifying” can includetranslating from one format to the other, scheduling a series ofmodified user requests in response to a single user request, and othermodifications, e.g., by a management or other application executing onthe MaaS server.

At 602, the ACE determines whether or not a delivery-protocol request ispending locally. If not, the ACE waits before proceeding to action 604,as indicated by the loopback arrow 603. Process 500 (FIG. 5) ensuresthis wait is brief. Once a delivery-protocol request is pending, then,at 604, the ACE wraps the user request in a delivery-protocol responseto the pending delivery-protocol request. As suggested earlier, this caninvolve wrapping user request packet payloads as payloads indelivery-protocol packets.

The user request can be packetized and included as payloads indelivery-protocol response packets that identify the client network portas a destination and identify a session associated with a priordelivery-protocol request. The delivery-protocol packets can beencrypted, e.g., according to an applicable transport-layer security(TLS, SSL) protocol. At 605, the delivery-protocol response(encapsulating user requests) is transmitted through the RSO tunnel tothe network client.

At 606, the MaaS agent unwraps the user request and forwards it to theirintended destination, e.g., a hypervisor, on the client network. Thiscan involve decrypting the payload and appending a header to form acomplete TCP packet. The header can specify the TCP packet destinationas the destination is fixed and known by the MaaS agent. The header canspecify the source of the encapsulating HTTPS packet as the source forthe TCP use-request packet. The intended destination may respond, e.g.,by turning a virtual machine on or off as called for by the userrequest.

At 607, the destination, e.g., the hypervisor, can issue a user response(that is, a response to a user request), typically in the same protocolas the user request. The user response may indicate that the destinationthat the user request has (or has not) been fulfilled; also the userresponse may include information called for by the user request. Thedestination can transmit the user response to the MaaS agent at 608.

At 609, the MaaS agent wraps the user response in a delivery-protocolrequest. This wrapping can involve stripping the header from TCP packetsand encrypting the payload. At 610, the MaaS agent transmits thedelivery-protocol request (that encapsulates the user response) to theACE on the MaaS server.

At 611, the ACE extracts (unwraps) the user response from thedelivery-protocol request. This can involve generating a header andappending it to the TCP payload. At 612, the ACE transmits the userresponse to the request originator, e.g., to its destination on theserver. At 613, the request originator (the MaaS server or user device)consumes the user response. In other words, the server consumes and/orforwards (to the user via a user device) the user response. Depending onthe scenario, a session can have additional round-trip request-responsetransactions.

A MaaS process 700 is flow-charted in FIG. 7. At 701, MaaS agents areinstalled on one or more client networks. At 702, the agents create RSOtunnels to MaaS servers. At 703, the agents repeatedly collect clientstatistics data, e.g., to detect patterns and trends. Differentschedules may be used for different client networks. At 704, the agentssend the collected network data over the RSO tunnels or paths thatbypass the RSO tunnels to the MaaS server. At 705, the MaaS servermodifies the queries to include respective tenant identifiers. At 706,the modified data is stored in a database residing on the MaaS serverand/or outside the client network and accessible by the MaaS server.

At 711, a user submits to the MaaS server a query, e.g., regardingprocess utilization by a virtual machine running on a client system thatthe user is authorized to manage. At 712, the MaaS server, e.g., inconnection with an authentication process, adds the respective tenantidentifier (TID) to the query. This has the effect that only datarecords having the matching TID are accessed in responding to the queryat 713. At 714, the MaaS server returns a response to the user. Theresponse is based on data collected from the respective client networkand is not based on data collected from other client networks associatedwith different TIDs.

The database can be accessed not only by users, but by a resident (tothe MaaS server) analysis engine, as in process 800, flow-charted inFIG. 8. At 801, the analysis engine analyzes the network data for agiven client network. For example, process, network, and storageutilization can be analyzed on a per-VM bases. At 802, the MaaS canissue messages, e.g., alerts to a user or tenant, if some threshold orother criterion is met. In addition, time profiles for each parametercan be used to predict patterns and trends. These, in turn, can be usedto send messages with predictions, for example, regarding how long avirtual machine can operate unimpaired before capacity constraintsthrottle it.

At 803, a remote user can respond to an alert, a recommendation, or anotice that an automated action has been taken, without having to awaita return to the client premises. This can be important where the messagecalls for a prompt response. The response may include a request to theMaaS application and/or to the client network. Communication over thetunnel can be required when interacting with on-premises hosts (e.g.,for powering on or deleting VMs). However, action 803 provides for anykind of user action, regardless of whether or not it needs to go overthe tunnel. One example a response that does not need to go over the RSOtunnel is a user snoozing an alert because it can be resolved at a latertime, in which case the MaaS server does not need to do anything exceptto resurface the alert in the future.

In an alternative embodiment, the message is sent to the client networkinstead to of or in addition to a user or a tenant. For example, atenant may provide policies for automated responses to detectedconditions. For example, there may be a policy that, if the MaaSapplication detects high utilization by a VM running on a first host,the MaaS server may send a command to activate second instance of the VMon a second host.

In process 800, the analysis engine accesses data from a single clientnetwork. However, one advantage of a MaaS implementation is that databelonging to multiple tenants can be used to provide enhancedrecommendations, as in process 900, flow charted in FIG. 9. At 901,plural tenants of a MaaS system elect to participate in a multi-tenantrecommendation feature. In consideration for the enhancedrecommendations, the electing tenants may give permission to use theirdata, or pay for a higher level of service without sharing their owndata. At 902, the MaaS server, e.g., its analysis engine, analyzes databelonging to multiple tenants to determine recommendations for aselected one of the tenants. At 903, the MaaS server provides therecommendation to the respective tenant. At 904, a user can respond asin action 803 above for process 800 (FIG. 8).

Herein, an “application programming interface” (API) is a set ofroutines, protocols, and tools for building software applications. AnAPI expresses a software component in terms of its operations, inputs,outputs, and underlying types. An API defines functionalities that areindependent of their respective implementations, which allowsdefinitions and implementations to vary without compromising theinterface. An API port is a communications node for communication withan associated application or protocol. In the illustrated embodiment,the port to be forwarded has the number 80, which is conventionallyassigned to the HTTP protocol.

In general, an API port can have a numerical identifier and can beaddressed by combining an IP address for the application host with theport number for the application itself. A command line string or othertechnique can be used to forward one port, e.g., the HTTP port on aphysical host of the client network, to another, e.g., the portassociated with the ACE on the MaaS server. The result is a tunnelhaving a delivery protocol such as HTTP or HTTPS.

Herein, a “tunnel” is a communications channel of a network thatincludes a hardware layer and encapsulates packets or portions thereofconforming to a first “payload” protocol within packets conforming to asecond “delivery” protocol compatible with the network. Herein, thedelivery protocol is a TCP/IP application-layer protocol. Herein,“wrapping a request” and “wrapping a response” encompass wrapping on apacket-by-packet basis.

The Internet Protocol Suite (also known as TCP/IP) specifies howinformation is conveyed over the Internet and similar networks. Morespecifically, TCP/IP provides end-to-end connectivity specifying howdata should be packetized, addressed, transmitted, routed, and receivedat the destination. This functionality is organized into fourabstraction layers which are used to sort all related protocolsaccording to the scope of networking involved. From lowest to highest,the layers are: the link layer, containing communication technologiesfor a single network segment (link); the internet layer, connectinghosts across independent networks, thus establishing internetworking;the transport layer handling host-to-host communication; and theapplication layer, which provides process-to-process application dataexchange and maintains sessions. Application-layer packets areencapsulated as payloads in transport-layer packets, which areencapsulated as payloads in internet-layer packets, which areencapsulated as payloads in link-layer packets.

Depending on the embodiment, the client network can include one or morephysical servers or other computers. The computers of a client networkmay be arranged in a local-area network (LAN) or a wide-area network(WAN). The client network may include wireless networking or wirednetworking or both. Physical servers may host virtual machines supportedby various virtualization technologies.

The MaaS server may be a simple forwarding service for remote userrequests or may include an application that responds in simple orcomplex ways to user requests, generating its own user requests inresponse to remote user requests or acting autonomously. The MaaS servermay support MaaS applications. The payload protocol for the RSO tunnelwill depend on the protocol expected by the payload destination on theclient network. The MaaS server may include a standalone or otherhardware computer, a network of servers operating as a single server, ora partition of a physical server, and/or virtual machines running on anyof the above.

Herein, a “system” is a set of interacting elements, wherein theelements can be, for example, devices, atoms, actions, and othersystems. Herein, a “process” is a system in which the elements areactions.

Herein, a “computer” is a system including storage media, at least oneprocessor, and communications devices. The communications devicesprovide for receiving and transmitting physical representations of data.The storage media is used for storing physical representations of datafor storing physical representations of data. The processor is forprocessing some “data-type” data in accordance with “instruction-typedata”.

Herein, “virtual” means not physically existing as such but made bysoftware to appear to do so. For example, a “virtual computer” is not acomputer (it lacks hardware), but appears to software running on it asthough it were a computer. A “virtual machine” is a virtual computer andis not a machine. “Physical” and “tangibles” are antonyms of “virtual”.Herein, a “server” is a physical or virtual computer that providesservices to one or more other physical or virtual computers, which are“clients” of the server.

Herein, a “network” is a system including at least one computer and atleast one communications channel over which it can communicate withanother computer or device. Herein, a “firewall” is a functional elementthat controls communications to and from a network. Portions of anetwork protected by a firewall are said to be “behind” the firewall.Typically, a firewall is configured to allow the network transmitcommunications, while limiting access to the network from outside thenetwork. Typically, a firewall is configured to allow outgoingcommunications, e.g., a request from a client inside the firewall to aserver outside the firewall, but to block incoming communications unlessthey are in response to an outgoing communication.

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a widely-used computercommunications protocol in which an HTTP client issues requests to anHTTP server and the HTTP server returns responses to the client.Typically, a firewall allows outgoing HTTP requests, allows incomingresponses to the outgoing HTTP requests, and blocks incoming HTTPrequests. Herein, “client-side” means “behind the firewall”. “Clientnetwork” refers to a network and all components thereof that a firewallis (at least presumably) configured to protect.

Strictly, “data” is abstract information that can be representedphysically, e.g., by memory states and voltage levels. As shorthand usedhere, “data” can refer to the physical representations of data.“Statistics data” herein refers to data that collectively can beanalyzed to detect patterns and/or trends. For example, values of aparameter collected at different times constitute statistics data.Herein, “client statistics data” refers to statistics data collected onthe client side of a firewall. The statistics data can include dataregarding virtual machines and their hosts that are regarded as part ofthe client network.

Herein, a “tenant” is an entity having functional possession of anetwork or application. The tenant may have possession as an owner orlessee of the network. The tenant may be a business or a department ofan enterprise. Users authorized to manage the network are typicallyemployees of the tenant or people otherwise associated with the tenant.Herein, a “tenant identifier” or “TID” is an identifier that identifiesthe tenant associated with a client network. A client identifier canserve as a TID for the tenant possessing the client.

These and other variations upon and modifications to the illustratedembodiments are provided for by the present invention, the scope ofwhich is defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A network Management as a Service (Maas) processcomprising: creating, using a management agent running on a clientnetwork, a reverse session-origin (RSO) tunnel from the client network,within a firewall, through the firewall of the client network, and to amanagement server outside the firewall; sending, by the managementagent, dummy requests from the client via the RSO tunnel to themanagement server; collecting, by the management agent, clientstatistics data at and regarding the client network, said clientstatistics data including performance and utilization data from saidclient network and further including utilization data from virtualmachines and hosts of said client network, wherein said utilization datafrom said virtual machines and said hosts of said client network iscollected by a hypervisor, and wherein said utilization data from saidvirtual machines and said hosts of said client network is specified onvirtual machine basis; transmitting the client statistics data to themanagement server; generating, by the management server, user requestsbased on the statistics; wrapping, by the management server, the userrequests in responses to the dummy requests; and transmitting, by themanagement server, the wrapped user requests via the RSO tunnel to theclient network such that said MaaS process is provided utilizing saidclient statistics.
 2. The network Management as a Service (Maas) processof claim 1 wherein the client statistics data includes utilization data.3. The network Management as a Service (Maas) process of claim 2 whereinthe client statistics data includes performance data and data describingconfiguration changes of the client network or any of its components. 4.The network Management as a Service (Maas) process of claim 1 whereinthe collecting includes collecting client statistics data from pluralclient networks associated with respective client identifiers, whereinthe transmitting includes transmitting collected client statistics datavia plural tunnels associated with the plural respective clientnetworks, and wherein the client statistics data collected from theplural client networks is associated with respective client identifiersin a database stored on the management server.
 5. The network Managementas a Service (Maas) process of claim 4 comprising: receiving a queryfrom an authorized user of a first client network of the plural clientnetworks; modifying the query to specify the client identifier for thefirst client network; and using the specified client identifier so as torespond to the query based in part on data collected from the firstclient network and not based in part on data collected from a secondclient network of the plural client networks.
 6. The network Managementas a Service (Maas) process of claim 4 comprising providing to anauthorized user for a first client network a recommendation regardingmanagement of a virtual machine on the first client network based inpart on collected data associated with a first client identifier in thedatabase and based in part on data in the database associated with asecond client identifier associated with a client network for which theuser is not an authorized user.
 7. The network Management as a Service(Maas) process of claim 4 wherein the client identifier is a tenantidentifier (TID), the TID identifying a tenant that is an owner orlessee of the client network.
 8. A system comprising non-transitorymedia encoded with code that, when executed using hardware causes thehardware to implement a network Management as a Service (Maas) processincluding: creating, using a management agent running on a clientnetwork, a reverse session-origin (RSO) tunnel from the client networkwithin a firewall, through the firewall of the client network, and to amanagement server outside the firewall; sending, by the managementagent, dummy requests from the client via the RSO tunnel to themanagement server; collecting, by the management agent, clientstatistics data at and regarding the client network said clientstatistics data including performance and utilization data from saidclient network and further including utilization data from virtualmachines and hosts of said client network, wherein said utilization datafrom said virtual machines and said hosts of said client network iscollected by a hypervisor, and wherein said utilization data from saidvirtual machines and said hosts of said client network is specified onvirtual machine basis; transmitting the client statistics data to themanagement server; generating, by the management server, user requestsbased on statistics; wrapping, by the management server, the userrequests in responses to the dummy requests; and transmitting, by themanagement server, the wrapped user requests via the RSO tunnel to theclient network such that said MaaS process is provided utilizing saidclient statistics.
 9. The network Management as a Service (Maas) systemof claim 8 wherein the client statistics data includes utilization data.10. The network Management as a Service (Maas) system of claim 9 whereinthe client statistics data includes performance data and data describingconfiguration changes of the client network or any of its components.11. The network Management as a Service (Maas) system of claim 8 whereinthe collecting includes collecting client statistics data from pluralclient networks associated with respective client identifiers, whereinthe transmitting includes transmitting collected client statistics datavia plural tunnels associated with the plural respective clientnetworks, and wherein the client statistics data collected from theplural client networks is associated with respective client identifiersin a database stored on the management server.
 12. The networkManagement as a Service (Maas) system of claim 11 wherein the processincludes: receiving a query from an authorized user of a first clientnetwork of the plural client networks; modifying the query to specifythe client identifier for the first client network; and using thespecified client identifier so as to respond to the query based in parton data collected from the first client network and not based in part ondata collected from a second client network of the plural clientnetworks.
 13. The network Management as a Service (Maas) system of claim11 wherein the process includes providing to an authorized user for afirst client network a recommendation regarding management of a virtualmachine on the first client network based in part on collected dataassociated with a first client identifier in the database and based inpart on data in the database associated with a second client identifierassociated with a client network for which the user is not an authorizeduser.
 14. The network Management as a Service (Maas) system of claim 11wherein the client identifier is a tenant identifier (TID), the TIDidentifying a tenant that is an owner or a lessee of the client network.15. The network Management as a Service (Maas) system of claim 8 whereinthe process includes wrapping a user request originating from the userdevice in a delivery-protocol response for transmission to the clientnetwork via the RSO tunnel.
 16. The network Management as a Service(Maas) process of claim 1 wherein the process includes wrapping a userrequest originating from the user device in a delivery-protocol responsefor transmission to the client network via the RSO tunnel.